Oi!!! Dec 17, 2008

Hey my pdays are on Wednesday and we go to a public computer and have to pay to use for however long... aye! So everything is going good here the first week down, I love my companion she´s like my mom out here. W e went to church and all the members are helping us along. feeding us and giving us rides when its pouring down rain. Blessing after blesing and now its Pday finally it was a long week. Sis Souza and I are on our own and our district is awesome. They are all so far away though. We meet once a week on tuesdays for a district meeting which is cool we catch a bus and go into the big city of campinas kind of like San Fran... The city is huge and I love it it's so beautiful. We live kind of on the outskirts known as Progresso. I make the pun of Progresso is Progressing!! haha so many people to teach and help. Brasil is an amazing place if only I could speak português. Thats the challenge of my life right now. I am really loving the work it has it´s ups and downs but it's such an experience. It´s especially hard with the holidays coming but you know how it goes. We are all excited for the mission conference on the 23rd where all the missionaries come together from the whole entire mission it'll be grand!! Well today is Sis. Souza´s birthday she´s 23 and I made her some brownies a recipe I got from an Elder Harmon in the CTM. and we´re going to McDonalds the first time here in Brasil. The people here are so warm and welcoming to me and my companion. I try so hard to communicate and sometimes I feel like I am not getting anywhere. but whatever... I feel so blessed and humbled to have such an opportunity as this one and am trying to grasp it. Everything is really new to me still. Oh you know Jon Hopkins the guy who gave me a ride home for thanksgiving from Roseburg. Well I found him in a photo at a members house here. he served here in Campinas.. I remember him telling me but had forgotten,. small world. we have had our encounters of cockroaches but last night was the first time in our house. it flew in from the open window, YES they FLY. and we screamed and grabbed the broom and this bugger was huge!!I went into my first Favela last week. Not as scary as I thought it would be. the people respect the missionaries and I think are watching our backs in a way. We found a family there really interested in the gosel. Christmas is definitely helping the work along, lucky for me. Love you always, Rachel